Association between echocardiography findings and cardiovascular comorbidities in Indian patients with chronic heart failure

• Main Authors: Rohit Sane, Gurudatta Amin, Snehal Dongre, Rahul Mandole
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2019-01-01
• Series: Cardiology Plus
• Subjects: Coronary artery disease; diastolic dysfunction; ejection fraction; heart failure
• Online Access: http://www.cardiologyplus.org/article.asp?issn=2470-7511;year=2019;volume=4;issue=2;spage=53;epage=57;aulast=Sane

Background: Various comorbidities contribute to structural and functional changes in congestive heart failure (CHF). Echocardiography is a first-line diagnostic tool for screening and monitoring CHF patients. Hence, it is important to study the association between echocardiographic findings and comorbidities in CHF. Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted using data from CHF patients evaluated at the Madhavbaug clinics between August 2018 and January 2019. Patients were classified based on normal (>55%) and compromised (<55%) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and grades of diastolic dysfunction (Grade I – impaired relaxation, Grade II – pseudonormal, and Grade III – reversible restrictive). Chi-square test was used to assess the associations between comorbidities and echocardiographic findings (including ejection fraction and grade of diastolic dysfunction). Results: One hundred and thirty-eight patients' data were evaluated. The majority of patients were male (74.15%), and the mean age was 59.15 ± 10.28 years. Sixty-two patients had compromised LVEF, whereas 76 patients had normal LVEF. Most patients (n = 77) had Grade I diastolic dysfunction, followed by Grade II (n = 53) and Grade III (n = 3). Patients with comorbidities including coronary artery disease (CAD) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.13–4.65],P = 0.02), dilated cardiomyopathy (OR: 30.6, 95% CI: [1.75–534.01],P = 0.002), and myocardial infarction (OR: 6.22, 95% CI: [2.45–15.78],P = 0.001) had higher odds of having compromised ejection fraction (LVEF <55%). Hypertension (HTN) (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: [1.02–4.6],P = 0.049) was associated with higher odds of Grade I diastolic dysfunction. Conclusions: Comorbidities such as CAD, dilated cardiomyopathy, and myocardial infarction are associated with increased odds of compromised ejection fraction, whereas HTN is associated with Grade I diastolic dysfunction.